Customer Engagement Manager

Job Title: Customer Engagement Manager
Location: Cape Town, Tyger Waterfront office (office based with optional, 2-days per week remote
work policy)

About NOA

NOA is an integrated renewable energy independent power producer, established to provide its customers with innovative and flexible solutions on their journey towards ‘Net Zero’ emissions and
low-cost clean energy – by wheeling the energy generated by utility scale solar and wind generation facilities, augmented by battery energy storage systems.

To achieve this, NOA has assembled several critical building blocks:

• A strong balance sheet with secured and disbursed equity funding from blue chip shareholders (the Old Mutual group, via the Ideas Managed Fund and the AIIF 4 Fund, both managed by AIIM) with long standing commitment to the renewable energy space in Africa.;
• An innovative capital and operational structure backed by a top-tier South African commercial institution; and
• development partnerships with several of the most successful project developers in South Africa, with successes in both the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Program (REIPPP) and the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) space.
• An aggregation entity (NOA Group Trading) aimed, in part, at disrupting the conventional project finance model that has characterised the C&I space to date, which is in the process of obtaining a trading licence from NERSA.
• Demonstrated track-record through some of the first private wheeling transactions to enter construction (including 30MW currently in operations for a listed mining company) and more
  than 625MW of wind and solar generation facilities in the financial close process
• An agile group of energy sector veterans committed to making a major contribution to the low-carbon energy transition – both in South Africa and across the rest of the African continent – who have been assembled to realise a mission of delivering more than 10GW of clean energy generation in the next 10 years.

About the Role

NOA seeks an experienced Customer Engagement Manager to join our Trading Operations team. In this role, you will take end-to-end responsibility for the success of our customer relationships from the post-contracting, through the onboarding and long-term supply phases. You will report to NOA Trading’s Head of Operations, and you will play a pivotal role in our customer success function, to set NOA and our customers up for long-term successful engagements. The ideal candidate will be a skilled communicator with a passion for serving customers, adept at solving problems, managing complex projects, and maturing the customer’s buy-in to the NOA mission of being a critical part of each customer’s net zero ambitions.

Benefits

• Competitive salary in line with experience, short term incentive and equity investment exposure
• Opportunity to work in a dynamic, mission-driven company with strong financial backing and a deep commitment to help unlock the just energy transition in South Africa.
• Be part of a growing team at the forefront of the South African renewable energy industry.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Onboarding project management and coordination: You will take ultimate responsibility for the successful onboarding of new customers, taking each customer’s nuanced requirements into account. You will project manage and lead the onboarding process, managing timelines, dependencies, resources, and deliverables across various workstreams to ensure a smooth customer experience and achieve operational readiness within our committed timelines.
• Contract management and service delivery: You will collaborate with NOA’s operational teams to ensure that we meet all our customer obligations and contractual commitments with clear tracking systems and project plans in place to manage risks and facilitate consistently great service delivery. You will oversee our monthly energy allocation reports and billing processes with customers and manage any exceptions with customers or external stakeholders where needed. This role requires a resourceful problem-solver who can swiftly respond to changing environments and devise impactful solutions.
• Customer Reporting: Maintain accurate records of key account information and activities. Produce regular reports on account status, performance, risks, challenges, and opportunities.
• Upselling and renewals: Identify opportunities for account growth and upselling, working closely with the sales and legal teams to maximise the value we can add for each customer.
• Account and market analysis: Analyse customer consumption and energy allocation data, market trends, and performance metrics to identify opportunities for improvement and develop targeted engagement strategies for each customer.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with sales, trading operations, finance, legal and NOA’s leadership to maintain alignment, set priorities and keep the organisation on track to keep delivering at a high standard. You should know when to lean on our domain experts for support but be enough of a self-starter to design and propose solutions in an answer-first
  environment.
• Documentation and knowledge sharing: You will lead the way in maintaining a knowledgebase for each new customer and ensure that all our key systems (CRM, trading & billing platforms
  etc.) are properly configured and updated, and that SOPs are developed and shared with the relevant teams to help scale our operational processes.
• Customer Experience: Participate in strategic initiatives aimed at improving customer engagement and communication strategies. Act as the voice of the customer within NOA, providing feedback internally to help shape future offerings and improve customer experience.

Required qualifications, skills, and experience

1. EXPERIENCE

• • An ideal candidate has 8+ years of work experience in a commercial customer engagement role including account management, contracting, and commercial responsibilities, ideally managing large corporate accounts in the commercial or industrial sectors and/or managing complex projects in a leading role with diverse stakeholders.
  • Experience in the energy or renewables space will be advantageous.

1. SKILLS

• • Strong Communication and Relationship-Building: Able to connect well with stakeholders at all levels, including senior executives.
  • Effective Listener, and Presenter: Skilled in understanding needs, and delivering clear presentations.
  • Problem Solver and Conflict Resolver: Handles challenges and navigates corporate structures effectively.
  • Analytical and Systematic: Thinks critically and designs efficient processes.
  • Clear Documentation Skills: Creates easy-to-understand and detailed reports.
  • Tech-Savvy: Proficient in CRM, project management, and work tools.

1. ATTRIBUTES
   

• • Customer-focused Passionate about serving customers
  • Problem-Solver: Skilled at managing complex projects.
  • Detail-oriented: Accurate, thorough, and attentive to details.
  • Flexible and Adaptable: Thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
  • Organized and Self-Motivated: Plans and prioritizes effectively to complete long-term projects.

To apply for the role, email your resume to careers@noagroup.africa together with a cover letter that highlights your relevant work experience and achievements that make you an ideal fit for the role, and what motivates you to join the NOA mission.